Consumers Well-Attuned to the Housing Market: National Housing Survey Results Reflect Current Market Conditions and Concerns

Consumer attitudes are proving consistent with recent slowing housing market trends, indicating that they are well-attuned to the direction in which the housing market is moving. According to the Fannie Mae August 2013 National Housing Survey results, Americans’ outlook on housing growth – which has been trending upward since the beginning of the year – has hit a plateau, likely due to concerns regarding the potential tapering of the Federal Reserve’s asset purchases.

“The spike in mortgage rates associated with the possibility that the Fed will begin to wind down its asset purchase program later this month has dampened the improving trend in consumer sentiment regarding housing witnessed in our survey since the start of this year," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "The pause in positive momentum is consistent with slowing trends in home purchase contract signings and mortgage applications. Interest rate volatility will likely remain elevated, even after we have more clarity on the pace of the Fed's tapering, due to concerns over the upcoming budget and debt ceiling debates as well as the crisis in Syria.”

Survey data show that consumers expect home prices to continue to grow on average during the next 12 months, but at a slightly reduced pace of 3.4 percent. Additionally, the share who say it is a good time to buy a home has stayed relatively flat during the past year while those who say it is a good time to sell a home has lost momentum recently.

Fannie Mae's monthly national consumer attitudinal survey report provides indicators offering a window into the opinions of Americans across the country. These behavioral insights convey what consumers think about the outlook for owning and renting a home and about their household finances, and may serve as key inputs for determining the future course of investment across housing types.

On this webpage you will find a news release with highlights from the survey results, the August Data Release highlighting 12 consumer attitudinal indicators, a podcast containing highlights from this month’s survey, technical notes providing in-depth information about the survey methodology, the questionnaire used for the survey, and a comparative assessment of the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey and other consumer surveys.